I feel like a maxed out credit card.

This week was mostly spent preparing for TF camp, which will last the next 4 days.

Christmas was well spent, I’d say. We had the annual Christmas dinner at my grandparents’ house. Everything from the pasta to the turkey and cheesecake were homemade, so it tasted good. This year, we didn’t have so much leftover turkey. I think it’s because Jensen is growing up and starting to eat a lot more. The four of us, Jensen, Jerome, Jean and I received brain teasers for Christmas presents. Jerome’s was the easiest and the rest of us got the toughest types. I spent the whole night trying to solve it and till now, I haven’t. I can’t even solve it while referring to the guided solution on the internet. I guess this can become some sort of lifelong quest.

I’m too lazy to post pictures myself. So please refer to Jean’s blog for some (if you are too bored). I was reading her summary on our trip and there was one line that went, “we spent the whole day snowing”. I couldn’t help but just burst into laughter. Can’t imagine what she was thinking then.

I’m still awake at 1.30am because I slept too much today. I know I’m in for trouble because I’ll have to be in church from morning till night tomorrow for Christmas rehearsal. Ah well, I hope I survive.

Seoul - Day 5

This morning, I woke up early and saw a fresh, white layer of snow outside. It wasn't very much though - obly about 2-3cm thick. But it was enough to make me happy seeing it before leaving for Singapore tomorrow.

Today, we joined a guided tour on to the De-Militarised Zone (DMZ), which is the 2km wide zone along the border on both sides of North and South Korea. In that zone, weapons are prohibited and there are soldiers on patrol. We walked through the 3rd tunnel built by North Korea and discovered by South Korea in 1978. Its unfinished end is just 58km from Seoul. Imagine if North Korea succeded in using that to attack.. The tunnel is 73m underground. Climbing back up from the tunnel was really tiring. The furthest we could go in the tunnel was just 170m from North Korea. We also went to visit other sites in the DMZ like the Doraesan Station and Freedom Bridge. Because of the North recently bombed a South Korean island, we couldn't go up the Dora observatory to look at North Korea.

The visit to ths DMZ was also like a crash course history lesson on the Korean War. I finally understand a little more about the war and the significance of the DMZ. If I ever get a chance to go again, I'd want to tour the Joint Security Area. We couldn't go this time because Singaporeans have to obtain permission at least a week before.

Before going to South Korea, I was a little worried about the increasing tension between the North and South in the wake of the recent bombings. But after living here for a week, I think the locals don't seem very concerned about the North. The people, from what I observed, are still calm. At least, more relaxed than the rest of the world watching them.

The rest of the day was spent walking around the Nandaemun area. We wanted to see the city gate but when we reached, it was under construction because a fire destroyed it in 2008. But there were lots of shops there, so we walked around. We bought stuff to cook from a supermarket and walked back all the way home.

My feet are really tired from all the walking this week. I did so much exercise without even realising. We have to wake up early tomorrow to catch the flight back to Singapore. I might post some pictures when I'm back, if I don't get buried under the pile of work waiting to fall on me when I'm back. Ok I'm going to get some rest.

Seoul -Day 4

YAYYYY!!

IT'S SNOWING!

Or as dad put it, the flakes are called flurries. I couldn't seem to remember it very well because I kept thinking they were fluffies. It's been quite a few years since I last saw snow. The last time would be when we went to Seatle and Vancouver a few years ago. Sadly, I don't think it'll snow enough to make a snow man or throw snow balls at Jean.

Tiis morning, we visited another palace called Changdeok, which complements the main palace we visited yesterday - Gyeungbokgung. Both are listed on the World Cultural Heritage list for their architechture and historical value. I think the palace is largely influenced by Chinese design because the architecture is similar to that of buildings like the Forbidden City in China, although the Forbidden City looks more prestigious and elaborate to me.

We also went to take a cable car up Mt. Namsan. From there, we could look at the Seoul city scape. We decided not to go up the Seoul tower (we were at the base) because it wasn't worth it. At the peak, there was this area with railings filled with locks. People could go there to attach locks on the rails. The locks symbolised never-ending love. We spent quite a bit of time slowly reading through some of the cheesy love messages written on the locks.

We walked around the Hanoe Bukchon Ganoe village in the afternoon. The roads are really narrow and steep because the village is on a hill. Climbing through the streets was tiring but the view was rewarding.

In the evening till late at night, we walked around Dongdaemun. We went to a toy and stationary wholesale shopping area. Jean and I got a gopd supply of stationary and I took the opportunity to get gifts for the TF committee during the jiu zhi dian li next year. We also went walked around other shopping malls in the shopping district, where dad got himself a jacket. We picked up a tub of ice cream on the way home for supper.

The temperature today was -13 to -4°C. I think I got a brain freeze, so I can't think very well now.

We're going to the De-militarised Zone (border between North and South Korea) early tomorrow so I'd better sleep now.

Seoul - Day 3

I feel very accomplished today.

We spent most of the day on foot. In the morning, we walked around Insadong, which is the area where we're staying. We visited shops along the roads, stopped by for tea at a tea house and a French bread eatery.

We gradually made our way to an old palace called Gyeongbokgung. When we reached, a mini demo ritual was taking place in the courtyard. Somehow, we got into the palace without even knowing we needed a ticket. After walking around the palace, we visited the National Folk Museum.

Most of the rest of the day was spent walking around a shopping district. We went to the Lotte shopping malls. They're really huge and have a wide variety of brands. The lightings are nice too, better than Orchard Road.

I've eaten ginseng chicken twice already. It seems to be quite popular here, and it's quite rare in Singapore.

The temperature today was -11°C. I survived it! That's why I'm feeling so accomplished. The wind chill was quite bad today too, making the cold even worse. To get a rough idea of how it felt, open your freezer and place your hand in the deep end for 10s. Now imagine there's cold wind inside your freezer and extend the time to about 12 hours. The cold stung my face and sometimes my nose seemed to lose connection with the rest of my face. Mom reminded me that in US, once the temperature climbed to 0°C or higher, Jean and I would already be out playing or cycling. I wonder how I survived that.

It was so cold today that any water seen on the ground was frozen. I even saw frozen spit on the ground.

Ok my phone's running out of battery so I'd better stop typing now.

Seoul - Day 2

Today, I spent the whole day skiing at Jisan Ski Resort. We woke up early to catch a free shuttle bus which took us to the ski resort 1.5 hours away.

We started with the easy bunny hill to warm up before proceeding to the more challenging ones. While waiting for mom and dad to slowly inch down one of the easier trails, Jean and I decided to go exploring on our own. We went up the ski lift and had the option of either the green or blue trail. I thought blue was easier, so we settled for blue. Turns out, blue was the hardest - but we only realised after going through the trauma of skiing down the trail. The hill was so steep I couldn't even see the path ahead of me. It was like skiing off a cliff. I was going so fast I couldn't turn properly. At one point, I turned too sharply and ended up skiing down backwards. I lost my balance and fell backwards with my head crashing downhill. Thankfully, my head wasn't really damaged. However, my legs skiis were twisted and I couldn't move my legs without twisting my left ankle. I started to panic because there was no one to help me get up. I decided to calm down and think of a solution. Finally, I managed to slowly inch myself up after a minute. I continued on my way downhill and fell one more time before finally reaching the base. I'm thankful I managed to ski down the hardest trail in one peice. But that was a really traumatising experience.

Most of the rest of the time was spent on the green trail, which is the second hardest level. I went on it at least six times and it was the trail I was most comfortable with. I was able to ski down the steep parts well, and I more or less perfected my turning.

We left the ski resort at about 5pm and I felt tired but really happy because I had the chance to ski again, and this time for as long as I could. When I was young, skiing was my favourite sport, even though I couldn't do it often. Today, it's still my favourite.

The temperature tonight is about minus 5 degrees Celsius. I was very cold when we go off the shuttle bus. For dinner, we bought back food and cooked it in our apartment. Food eaten at home somehow tastes better.

Seoul - Day 1

We reached Seoul this afternoon and took a bus to our serviced apartment. I'm really pleased with where I'll be spending the next few nights. The apartment is quite big and Jean and I have our own rooms. It feels a lot like home here.

After settling down, we went out in search for dinner. While walking along the streets, we went into Uniqlo and discovered that the winter stuff there are really nice and reasonably priced. I ended getting a jacket and long-sleeved heat-tech shirt.

For dinner, we ate Korean food, which was delicious and cheaper than what I usually see in Singapore. Kimchi was served free of charge, and most things were spicy (poor Jean).

The temperature here is around 0-5 degrees Celsius. I'm looking forward to tomorrow because we'll be going skiing tomorrow. That'll make it the fifth time in my life, as far as I can remember. I hope my skiing didn't deprove too much.

Alright, that's all for today. The time here is one hour faster than that of Singapore's.

I’m off to South Korea tomorrow morning. I really hope the North doesn’t get too agitated and throw any missiles or nuclear bombs.

I have so many things on my mind. This whole December is crazily busy. With the mission trip finally over, I can worry about other things now. Just trying to list out everything in my head makes my heart rate increase. Sigh. During this holiday in Korea, I’m going to make it a point not to worry myself about other things. I want to enjoy my short holiday before I receive my full-blown torture next year.

Just now, dad was looking through the Korean won he exchanged for. He realised that the notes in the whole stack were consecutive. The notes were crisp and new, and no one could bear to use them. I helped to take a picture of the nice series of numbers before he distributed them among the Chans (in consecutive numbers).

Here’s a related fact about myself: The dollar notes I keep at home are always arranged in order of their values and serial numbers. I’m just wondering, does anyone else do that too? It makes me happier because my notes are neatly arranged and I can easily select the older notes (in terms of their numbers) I want to use. And yes, I activate my notes in ascending order of their serial numbers, i.e. from the oldest to the newest.

Today, i went to help mindsville with the children's wing outing to watch Walking with Dinosaurs. I partnered X before for a recent walkathon. He requires a lot of hand holding and he has difficulties walking on his own. I usually try to ask him yes/no questions because his speech is impaired. When he saw me, he was smiling and waving happily. Before i knew it, he hobbled up to me and grabbed my hand. He paced around the waiting area and took me around, pointing at various objects, looking for my approval, then smiling and going along to another area. When it was time to board the bus, he went into the bus and patted the seat next to his. I suddenly remebered i left my ez link card at the security post and promised him i'd be back after going to retrieve it. When i got onto the bus, another helper was already sitting next to him, so when he saw me walk pass, i waved and made my way to the back to sit with jean.

When we alighted, X quickly grabbed hold of my hand again and we made our way into the indoor stadium. The stage set had scary-looking jaws protruding from the sides and the stadium was very dark. When we were just about to move down from the corridor into the stands, X suddenly grunted and jerked away. Despite gentle pursuasion from the teachers, jean and i, he was too scared of the dark and didn't want to sit in the stands. He agreed to stand above the seating area and watch the performance from there. I continued holding his hand and stood there with him while the rest went to take their seats. Rose tried to get him to hold other teachers' hands instead so i could sit down to enjoy the show, but he refused. I didn't mind, so i spent the next 2 hours of the performance holding his hand and standing beside him. One of my greatest fears was that thalassaemia minor would get the better of me since i'd have to stand for a very long time. I tried my best to get good blood circulation and although i felt slightly dizzy at times, thankfully, the episodes faded off quickly. As i held X's hands, i could feel his hands trembling slightly as the show started, and his grip tightening when the dinosaurs appeared and started roaring. The anxiety he felt might have been many times worse than whatever was on my mind. Sometimes, he'd make sudden noises, or beat his chest and smile at me (what he usually does, but i'm not sure what it means). The row of people sitting in front of us would turn back occassionally, and i'd just smile apologetically. Sometimes i did feel sorry that they had to put up with so much noise, but there were other times when i thought that it really wasn't anyone's fault.

The performance finally came to an end after what seemed like a jurasic period. We endured the 2 hours and our hands were very sweaty. I walked him back to the bus that came to pick the children up and i went off to the mrt station.

I reached home late after catching a movie with jasmine, andrew, rui quan and jean. I received a msg from rose just now saying how i made X feel special today. To be honest, it felt like the other way round. X made me feel special today because he chose me over his teachers. I know it sounds childish, but yeah.

Sadly, one day, he will have to be confined to a wheel chair. It makes me wonder why life is... What it is.

Mission Trip 2010

I’m back from the mission trip. I reached home past midnight this morning and slept all the way till noon. Now, I’m feeling refreshed although slightly overwhelmed by the workload that awaits me.

 



The mission trip team



This was my second mission trip to 大谷地 (Arunothai, Thailand). 大谷地 is in Northern Thailand, situated near the border between Myanmar and Thailand. Although the job scope for the mission trip team was similar to that of last year’s, I felt that I participated more actively this time, taking on slightly greater responsibilities and getting to know the children living in 主恩之家 on a more personal level.

Night devotion in 主恩之家

We attended the night devotions with the rest of the children in 主恩之家 – something we didn’t do last year. I had the opportunity to lead the devotion on one of the nights. I shared a few verses from Proverbs 3:5-6 and ended off by teaching them the song 我需要有你在我生命中. I was quite nervous about leading the devotion because it was an impromptu kind of thing, and I had less than a day to prepare it. People who’ve worked with me before would know that I’m the sort of person who likes to plan things early and avoid the unavoidable as much as possible. This experience, however, was memorable because in my areas of weakness, God showed how he could use me, even at the last minute.

The first night teaching children English

We were asked to help teach the children at 恩惠小学/中学 English at night. We decided to teach from Primary 4 to Sec 1, which consisted of 5 classes. For the first night, we taught two classes at a time using the church hall. We played a children’s story in English and projected the words in English. While explaining the story, we found that most of the children could not understand enough English to know what the story was about. After some evaluation, we decided to change our teaching strategy. Each of us was to take a class for the remaining two nights and use English Christian songs to teach them.



Just before splitting up to teach the children English



Teaching the P5 class English



A picture taken with some students from my P5 class.  



I was in charge of teaching the Primary 5 class (there was only one for that level). Although all of them were in Primary 5 (according to the standard of their Chinese), their ages ranged from approximately 9 to 15. On one hand, I had to deal with less enthusiastic teenagers who didn’t like being treated as kids, and on the other hand, young children who could be very noisy at times. One thing I liked about the way things were done in the school was that the lesson always began with a prayer led by one of the children in the class. Once, when I was trying to get the class to quieten down, one of the children pointed to a cane hanging on the wall, but I didn’t want to command attention from all of them like that. I taught them some songs, actions and the meanings of words. I tried my best to make the lesson as engaging as possible. On one occasion, I ended up drawing a violin on the board. Although I walked out of the classroom each time with my throat feeling sore, the pain was worth it. At the end of my last lesson, I told my class I was happy teaching them, and encouraged them to learn English well. The class gave me a really loud farewell greeting. A few children came up to talk to me, asked me to write my name on their exercise books. One of them even asked for my email. I really enjoyed teaching my class. To me, standing in front of the class and greeting them each time were moments I’ll never forget.

The campfire at 主恩之家

On Thursday night, I helped lead a campfire for the children in 主恩之家. We sang songs and I prepared constellation maps so we could do some star gazing. Stars are really one thing I like, because they remind me of how small I am compared to the universe, but how God still cares for this tiny speck.

Preparing for the children's gospel rally

Children's gospel rally

Children in my station using plasticine to make a model of a giraffe



The station I was in charge of: plasticine modelling

We held a gospel rally for the children in the school on Saturday morning. There were activity stations around the school, each manned by one of us. The stations aimed to bring out essential evangelical messages. I was in charge of the station about God’s creation. Communication with the children was a bit difficult because my Chinese wasn’t very good and they understood Thai better. There were also a number of children from minority ethnic groups who could not understand me. Thankfully, a teacher attached to my station helped me to translate. At the end of the activity time, I was alone in the classroom trying to pack up the materials. Suddenly, 2 girls from my Primary 5 class came into the classroom and asked if they could help me with anything. I was rather touched by their actions because I didn’t expect them to remember me, or even help me clear up.

Xiao Jun teaching the teachers English

逐家布道

On one of the mornings, I decided to take a break from helping xj teach the teachers English so I could join the rest for 逐家布道 (door to door evangelism). We went to a refugee area nearby. It was a really beautiful place to live at because there was a lake, fields of crops and mountains in the background. The people we visited were very friendly and welcomed us into their homes. One of the women we spoke to claimed that she was sin-less. She said she never did anything wrong before – never lied – and she has always been living a happy life. We were taken aback and didn’t know how to counter her claims. Although I spotted some contradictions in her arguments, I had no idea how to express myself in Chinese, so I just kept quiet. But this experience has reminded me that the mission trip is a spiritual battle.

Outing at the waterfall with 任焕、me、Xiao Jun、海惠、Jean、家威

A picnic by the waterfall

Last year, I regretted not getting to know the youth in 主恩之家 better. This year, I can safely say I’ve gotten to know them more. Xiao Jun, Jean and I spent our free time chatting with some of the youth my age - 任焕、海惠 and 家威. 任焕 and 海惠 woke up early to take Xiao Jun, Jean and I on morning walks to the town and to visit the market. On Saturday afternoon, They brought us to visit a waterfall and hot springs. We climbed up a bit of the waterfall and had a picnic together.



A picture taken with 李牧师, his wife and the mission trip team just before setting off



Leaving 大谷地 this year was harder. We’d gotten to know the youth much better this year by joining them for their night devotions, playing basketball in the afternoons and going out together during our free time. Thankfully, we can still keep in touch through the Internet.

I enjoyed this trip very much and if given the chance, I’ll go out to serve God again.

Me riding a motorcycle – I think I got the hang of it already!

A lake at 大谷地



Dipping in the hot spring





家威  getting baptized



海惠 getting baptized

This is where I’ll be living for the rest of the week. Going to Northern Thailand (大谷地 / Arunothai) for a short mission trip. I found the picture using Google Earth. I was quite surprised I even managed to find it because it took 3 hours to get there and I wasn’t paying attention to the road, so I had no idea how I ended up in 大谷地 last year. I’m quite sure this picture is correct because I roughly remember the surrounding roads and houses, as well as the shape of the compound.

 

Regarding my previous post, please ignore it. I was just venting my frustration for a while. Now that I can think slightly more rationally now, I’ve decided to think through my options first before diving into anything. The problem now is the deformation of the tennis ball.

On another note, why is it so hazy and smelly now? It’s really very terrible. My nose isn’t liking the strange, strong smell and I can hardly see anything in the distance outside.

ARGHHHH. Frustration.

I’m so sick and tired of dropping balls onto string beds and now it looks like I have to do it again. I’ve done it at least 5000 times and the thought of doing another set of readings just makes me want to give up on my EE. You could say I’m traumatised by my experiment already.

I think I’ll give myself a break first. Go swimming/do violin practice then worry about this later. I thought I could settle everything by today before the rest of my December gets eaten up by other activities. Sigh.

The pain of editing

I finished my first draft of my EE, so after meeting my supervisor, I’m on to my second. There are so many things to change and it took me 4 days to somewhat get over the pain of changing stuff. Now, that’s just the first part because I haven’t actually finished doing what needs to be done yet. The thought of having to alter something you spent hours coming up with just.. I don’t know.. stings? Maybe it’s because of my stubbornness or unwillingness to change (both for the better and for the worse).

Ok I think I should stop procrastinating here and get the work done.

I went to watch the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra’s open rehearsal today. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I was part of the audience they were trying to film for a movie. They’re really very, very good. But probably too good for me to properly appreciate the goodness. While I was there, I suddenly realised that smss strings was there too. Joan and Jolene were waving frantically – I might have seen them, but I probably didn’t look hard enough. Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise and I had some time to catch up with them and some others.

I was listening to the news just now. Bangkok and South Korea seem to be (more) politically unstable now. If I don’t get held up in Bangkok next week, I might (touch wood) get bombed by North Korea the following week. And if all that happens, I can forget about my pile of work I need to complete this holiday! Just kidding.. I really hope nothing bad happens.

It’s nearing the end of the year - time to reflect on how I’ve spent this year. As I look back now, it’s been a short, yet long year. It seems to have passed by quickly, but when I think of all the things I’ve gone through this year, it seems long. Alright, enough for now.

This is one of the benches I occupied. Here, you can see a wide range of nylon fishing strings with varying diameters. I could almost open a small fishing shop.

Apart from doing my EE, I’ve spent most of the rest of the past few weeks going back to school for strings because of the concert coming up on Saturday.

It was Jean’s birthday yesterday, so nai nai, ye ye, Jerome, Jean and I went for lunch at Jack’s Place after I was done with CCA. After a heavy meal, we went bowling with Jensen at SAFRA. I think I’m very unfit. I got a muscle ache in my thighs after yesterday’s bowling, even though it felt like I hardly exercised while at that.

One more reason to exercise – Jean’s birthday cake.

I’ve been typing this post on and off the past 2 hours because I’ve been trying to write the abstract for my essay at the same time. I think I’ll end off here because I’ve already forgotten what I intended to type. Yea, my poor multi-tasking skills..

My holidays are supposed to have begun this week, but it doesn’t quite feel like a holiday yet. I just finished data collection for my EE yesterday, so now I’m busy writing out the essay. I’m almost at 3000 words. Finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel…

My EE in pictures:

 

My 2-storey window-pulley system. The mass is dangling on the handle.

My initial model which I constructed out of scraps I found in some corners of the labs.

The actual setup for the first part of my investigation.

The wooden frame – I sawed and put it together. Yes, I’m quite proud of it.. It was my first time sawing wood. As Tim put it, “murdering pieces of wood…”

The setup for the second part of my investigation. If you see the background, almost the whole lab is empty. There’s usually only a maximum of 3 people working in the lab (and it’s the same few of us) at any one time. Over the past few weeks, I slowly expanded my territory and conquered 2 whole benches.

The tennis racquet which I brought from home and cut up in school.

Life has been ok so far. I got back results last week and I’m glad I did reasonably well. In terms of my average score, I didn’t improve nor de-prove. But in terms of grade points, I increased by 1 (a good thing). This means that I evened out my scores, so the next step for me is to push everything up to a 7.

I went to the Physics lab to work on my EE this morning, since there was no school. The good news – I improved my setup and I’m moving on to my actual experiment. The not-so-good news – I’ve only managed to take 2.5 sets of readings of part 1 of 3 of my investigation. The rate of progress is practically zero. And today, when I dropped the mass outside the window, someone started pulling on it and wouldn’t let go for a few minutes. I wasn’t too annoyed, but I still wonder why people do such things.

Last week, I woke up in the morning thinking about TOK on one of the TOK focus days. The past 3 mornings, I woke up realising that I was dreaming about my EE. Each dream had something to do with trying to improve my setup (which I’m not done with). I seemed to manage to find (or nearly find) a solution to setup problems at the end of each dream. But whenever I tried to think about what the solution was, I always couldn’t seem to recall. Till now, I can’t. I hate my conscious mind.. It really restricts my thinking.

I tried living the life of a philosopher (or thinker) the last three days, and I’m spending the next three days of this week living like a researcher.

Today, I started work on my Physics EE. I’m doing something on tennis racquet strings and the elasticity of the string bed. I went through so much trouble trying to complete the setup of my experiment. The most annoying thing I had to consider was making sure string tension was kept constant when I tried to string my model. Oh yes, not to forget, I spent the whole morning trying to construct a suitable model. Back to string tension.. I tried using a pulley system by lowering a mass down the building from the window of the Physics lab on the 2nd floor. Some people who walked from the canteen to the classroom block were observant enough to notice a mass dangling from above. At one point, the string holding the pulley from the window snapped and I was in a state of shock. Thankfully, the mass didn’t crash onto the ground or worse still, on an unfortunate person’s head.

After spending 6 hours working in the lab, I only managed to generate one preliminary set of data, and I’m thinking of changing my model and setup again tomorrow. I’ll have 8 hours to do that.

After CCA, I was talking to someone who was doing Econs EE and she already completed 1800 words (while people like me still haven’t settled their setup). What’s more, she said the Econs people spent the day slacking, eating Macs and plying guitar hero. Gah… Science is all about perseverance. But I must say, I did enjoy the process of working around my problems and scouring the physics labs for any tools and material I could possibly use.

Looks like the lab is going to be my second home for the next few weeks..

I’m almost brain-dead from thinking of TOK practically the whole day. This week, I’ll be climbing Mount EETOK(IA). Hopefully I’ll reach the summit in one piece.

EETOKIA stands for Extended Essay, Theory of Knowledge and Internal Assessments.

Till my brain is in better shape, I’ll post again.

I don’t know why, but I feel quite quite relaxed now. The truth is, I’m only halfway through my exams. But so far, the papers have been ok, in that I haven’t been slaughtered too badly. Today’s math paper was also especially fulfilling. No, I didn’t know how to do every single question, but I managed to work through most of them. This is in direct contrast to my first class test (where I nearly failed) and common test when I felt a tremendous sense of guilt after the paper and only managed 6 points (equivalent to an A2).

Oh and all the talk about my principal has been quite interesting but shocking as well. I was very surprised when I received an sms from my uncle asking to confirm if my principal really resigned. My first reaction – disbelief. And then, when it slowly sank in, I wondered if the school would survive. There’s just this sense of uncertainty till now, like riding a bike with your eyes closed. I’ve yet to see what will happen from now on. It was almost 10pm when the news was broadcasted. But the whole school knew about it even before the Board could give an official announcement the next morning. News like this sure spreads round the school community really fast. I saw some reporters standing around in school, probably trying to get some students to be interviewed. Of course, we were told not to entertain them. But somehow, I think the media is a more reliable source of information. It seems like the school is trying to keep something away from us. Like while announcing, they didn’t explicitly say there was a complaint lodged. They kept emphasizing on health issues, retirement, enjoying life etc. But in their press statement, they admitted that there was a complaint lodged. Stuff like that are what make me think the school is trying to withhold information or hide something from the rest of the population.

Happy children’s day!

I still remember, exactly a year ago, I took the O level music performance exam.

Quite coincidentally, today was the start of my exams (not including Chinese prelims last last week). So far, it’s been ok. I’ve just been killed a bit, but not too bad. I hope I’ll show more improvement.

Actually, part of me doesn’t want exams to be over. Because once exams are over, firstly, I’ll have to face my results. Secondly, I have to start on my EE. Thirdly, I have to write the TOK essay. The list could go on, but I think I’ll stop here. In short, life after exams is just going to get busier.

I’m still considering something which I can’t really reveal yet. I’m unsure about what to do for now. I’m still waiting for an answer, or so I think. I typed this so anyone who happens to pass by can help pray for me, that I’ll have the wisdom and courage I need to make the right decision. (Thanks)

Oh and I just remembered, less than half my class turned up for school yesterday – 11/28. Other classes were worse, one I heard only had 5 people. I considered pon-ing school at first but decided not to because it didn’t agree with my moral standards (because I’d have to end up lying that I was sick). But anyway, it was a really enjoyable day because of the small class size. I could ask any question I wanted, and managed to do self-studying, so the day didn’t seem wasted after all. One more thing - I played water polo for PE, which was quite fun.

I don’t know if I should be freaked out or not. I posted this on Friday, July 30, 2010:

On Wednesday, while having recess in the SAC (canteen) with classmates, I finished my plate of noodles and was waiting for the rest to finish theirs. Suddenly, a young boy (year 3 or below) carrying a pack of Oreos suddenly walked towards me and took my plate away. I was quite stunned at first and didn’t have time to react before he turned to walk away. After trailing him, my friends and I realised he wasn’t trying to play a prank or anything – he put my plate back to the correct stall container. This incident left quite an impact on me because I regretted not acting fast enough to thank him (and partly because I had no idea why I was his only target).

Yesterday, during recess, I went to queue at the usual rice stall with Sharon in front of me. There actually wasn’t really much of a queue. There was a guy who had just gotten his food, so he turned around from the counter to move off from the stall. Then he spotted me and suddenly said, “Oh sorry, I should have let you gone first…”, and then he walked off. I didn’t see it coming, so I was so shocked I just managed to smile, shake my head and say, “No, it’s alright”. Then it suddenly occurred to me that he was the boy I met almost 2 months ago.

I was left confused and rather spooked by the literally “curious incident” for the rest of that day. I thought he was just doing it as a “dare” the first time round. But now that it happened again, and specifically on me, I’m getting more conscious. If I ever bump into him again, I’m definitely going to ask who he is and how he got to know me.

I received the DipABRSM results this afternoon and I wasn’t successful. I expected myself to fail the recital because I didn’t play the best I could, but turns out I passed. I passed viva voce as well. It was the quick study that killed me. My overall percentage is a pass, but since I failed the quick study section, I have to retake it and hopefully pass overall so I can get the diploma.

I’m thankful for the result but I’ll just need some time to let it pass. I was considering retaking the recital part as well, just to prove to myself that I could play better than that, but I decided against it since it’s just a waste of money. There’s really no need to do that since I’m more concerned with my improvement in the long run, rather than just looking back and feeling happy about a grade I got years ago.

Now, off to productive labour.

My Chinese teacher was going through the answers for the past-year IB Chinese papers last Friday and as usual, some people in class (occasionally me) were secretly doing their own work. Then she was trying to explain what “地下工作者” meant. In English, it refers to people who seem to be doing something but are actually doing something else. Then she started giving an example of how some people in class seemed to be doing Chinese but were actually doing their own work. And it so happened that Justin (my desk partner) was doing his physics, and we immediately burst into laughter. Then she went on to elaborate, “我知道你们当中有些人在做你们的什么... Physics 啊...". It was unbelievably true and that was what made it kind of funny.

That episode kept us laughing for about 10 minutes non-stop. Partly because laughter is infectious. One stops, the other giggles, and both start laughing again.

Then it worsened when we were going through an article on "拼", and we were trying to come up with 配词 for "拼". So there were words like 拼命 etc. Then someone from the back of the class suddenly said, “pong”. Again, I got into a tiring laughing state.

My jaws were tired and my eyes teared up by the end of Chinese lesson.

This is the power of laughter.

I was feeling very free today and decided to re-arrange a song I used to sing through my years in the children’s section of Sunday School.

These are the lyrics:

我献什么给耶稣 报他救我宏恩

他因爱我舍己身 我当如何爱他

我献我心给耶稣 虽然所献微小

恩主必定不轻看 因他所爱惟此

To listen, click here. The first playing is the simplified initial version, the second playing is my re-arrangement. Sorry excuse the boring left hand accompaniment because I don’t know how to play the piano and note down the notes I play for that matter. The main thing I changed was the chord progression.

It’s been an interesting day. In the afternoon, xj and siling came over to play tennis with me. Xj and I spent about half an hour drying to dry the court, and it was nearly more tiring than playing tennis. I finally did some exercise after living like some civilised pig for a few weeks.

In the evening, TF committee came over to my house for a BBQ. It was great fun and I had a good time laughing till my jaws hurt. Anyway, I’m thankful for the fellowship last night (it’s about 1 am now). It’s September now and tomorrow (today) will be the fourth last committee meeting I’ll be chairing…

Mom and dad are at Batam with Andrew Fellowship for a  teambuilding camp. Jean and I are left at home to fend for ourselves. We had to do quite a bit of housework after the BBQ. The weird thing is, when mom’s around nagging, we don’t usually follow all the “rules” of house chores (i.e. we omit some steps). But now that we’re left to operate that cleanliness reset button, we follow the house rules more closely than ever, like cleaning up every spec of dirt and following all routine house chore procedures with utmost precision. It’s weirdly true.

The holidays are almost over. Sigh.. Such short-lived happiness.

It’s been a tiring week, especially the last few days. There were hours of rehearsals till late at night in preparation for tonight’s performance, and the parts weren’t as easy as I was told they would be. Thankfully, I’m not playing violin 1. Otherwise I’d have to practice twice as hard and I’d probably be deader than before.

This is what happened tonight: news 

How I was selected to play for this concert/award ceremony still remains a mystery to me. I’m a worse than average player and all the other school participants were the super pro people sitting way in front of their orchestras. I emphasize again, I’m just a below average player. Yet, I sat at the second desk, which probably does a lot of injustice to many others behind me who are more deserving of that spot.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the fun and stress of playing – my second time playing with a full symphony orchestra.

The president came.. Oh and I had a pleasant surprise when I bumped into Mr Chia yesterday. I didn’t realise he was playing too till then. I chatted with him for a while and he said he still remembered Jie Ying and Ariela (he couldn’t remember anyone else..).

If anyone is interested..

Bernstein: Candide Overture

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra 1/2

The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra 2/2

I’m quite useless in a sense that I don’t know how to help people around me, especially when I see a problem that needs addressing. I end up trying to do research on the internet to find out about how I might be able to help, but whether I actually have the guts to take action is another thing altogether. The past few days, I’ve been reading up on self-harm. To be honest, I’ve never quite looked at self-harm from the victim’s point of view. I was always against it, simply because I tend to be judgemental sometimes. But after reading up, I can finally understand the “rational” behind such behaviour. I’m not saying that I support self-harm (mainly because I believe the human body is not to be intentionally treated in such a manner), but rather, I’m ready to accept anyone who does that.

Today, I went to see the ear doctor. My tone audiogram shows that my hearing is still fine – meaning it hasn’t worsened since last year. I see a slight downward trend in my hearing ability, but it’s ok since it’s still hovering around the borders of normal hearing range. I’m quite amazed with the doctor because each time I visit him, he never fails to incorporate some biblical points of view during the consultation. By induction, I think he makes the effort to share the gospel with every patient he sees, and that’s what I admire him for.

Something which happened today left me stunned (in a bad way). I kept quiet and stoned for a few minutes to sort out my thoughts before I finally got my mind off it. I have no idea why I’m typing this since I’m not intending to reveal explicitly what happened. I’m sorry for making whoever reads this read this paragraph.

Anyway, yay for a holiday tomorrow!

I’m one of those k-po (please excuse the spelling – I have no idea how to spell it) people who sat glued to the TV while watching the Manila hostage crisis. But it wasn’t the sort of stereotypical Singaporean k-po-ness, It was, well.. out of concern that I was interested in it (yea I know most Singaporeans would give this sort of excuse anyway). It must have been a horrifying tour to Manila for the Hong Kong-ers. I did feel sorry for them, especially the fact that 8 of them died innocent deaths.

Tomorrow is the first rehearsal for the HSBS youth concert thing. A few representatives from all schools with string ensembles will be playing, and I was given a chance to be one of them. I haven’t practiced the pieces much though…

If there’s one thing that defines me as a Christian student, it’s this:

Those who honour me I will honour…

Never give up, even when things are looking hopeless.

I tried starting this post several times but ended up clearing everything after coming up with barely one sentence each time. Ah, this is the furthest I’ve gone yet…

I aim to learn Mendelssohn’s violin concerto (in E minor) before I die. It’s challenging and I’m eager to start tackling it. I think the fantastic music that comes out of it is worth the technical challenge.

Alright I have to more nonsense to empty out.

Today was a rather interesting day. My cohort went on a trip to Officer Cadet School (OCS), supposedly aimed at stirring enthusiasm about National Service (since 4 in 5 students are guys). Although it didn’t really apply to me, it was a rare and meaningful experience. It was probably the first and last time I stepped into the training institute.

What I liked about the school was that everything was extremely neat and precise. The trees are all aligned, the steps are very consistent, the place is very clean, and I bet each strand of grass was carefully trimmed to a precise height. Very nice.

I tried firing one round of a general purpose machine gun. It was quite cool because everything felt real – looking through the aiming thing, pulling the trigger, and experiencing the recoil. That’s the closest I've ever gotten to a destructive weapon. I tried holding a rifle managed to take a close look at it. It was quite heavy. I wonder how people even run with stuff like that.

I had my fun, but no, I don’t think I’ll ever sign on to the army.

I’ve never been injured like this before – I think I tore a vital muscle while playing badminton for PE yesterday. I didn’t feel any pain after playing, but my arm did feel weird. When I did violin practice at night, I picked up my bow and realised I couldn’t even grip it properly. I tried drawing long bows but each time I reached the tip or had to change direction, my arm would fail to apply enough pressure on the stick and I’d end up with a sloppy sound.

I played a bit of Bach and scales before my arm was aching badly and I couldn’t take it anymore (about 15 minutes), then I stopped.

I have a self-prescribed MC to excuse myself from violin practice today. Well… At least it makes me feel less guilty for skipping one day of practice.

As I type this, my stomach hurts but I’m feeling rather relaxed, probably because I managed to lift quite a bit of work off my shoulders.

I watched Inception yesterday and I’m glad it was a movie that set me thinking – about how amazing (yet scary) it is that we, humans, can dream of things so real, and “bond” with other people virtually. It really hit me at the end when the people woke up from their dream where they had adventures together, built up strong relationships and learnt about each other. When they woke up, they suddenly distanced themselves from each other, as if nothing much had happened.

Are humans able to separate dreams from reality (assuming I’m currently living in reality)? I remember there was once, many years ago, I had a bad dream (commonly known as a nightmare) about a particular lady who had just stepped into church to help out with the music ministry. I had such a bad fright that the following Saturday when I had to see her again, I nearly couldn’t face going to church. I was dreading it and when I saw her, I’d quickly turn away to avoid looking. This continued for some time, and it only faded off after the lady finished serving the church (thankfully, not too long after the dream). I knew what I dreamt was obviously just a dream, but it shook me so much that it affected my reality.

Somehow, differentiating dreams from reality seems to improve with experience. Nowadays, I still have scary dreams that I remember, but much less than when I was younger. Thank God for that – otherwise I’d have a full store of nightmares to scare myself with.

Apart from nightmares, I’ve also had dreams where I interact with people I know (or didn’t expect to know so well). Those types of dreams are harder to remember, but I do remember fragments of them. When I awake from those dreams, sometimes I do get confused. Like I don’t know if I actually told that person what I think I told them – was it just in my dreams, or reality? And, if everyone has such dream-bonding experiences, does it help improve social relationships? Like somehow, we go through adventures with other people that help us “get to know them” better. Through these interactions, we feel more familiar with them, and this somehow aids in developing relationships among people we are connected to?

Sorry, please ignore my post if it seems like rubbish. I don’t know what got into me…

It’s been a really tiring week. The concert’s tomorrow. I stayed back till 10.30pm in school the past 2 days for rehearsals and today was finally a day for relaxing. Well, not really, since I still practiced at home.

The highlight of the performance is Dvorak’s 8th symphony. It’s been an interesting experience playing a symphony. Hearing the different tone colours blasting behind me made orchestra-playing feel different.

It’s another very long day tomorrow.

Alright, enough rambling. I need to do my EE proposal.

On Wednesday, while having recess in the SAC (canteen) with classmates, I finished my plate of noodles and was waiting for the rest to finish theirs. Suddenly, a young boy (year 3 or below) carrying a pack of Oreos suddenly walked towards me and took my plate away. I was quite stunned at first and didn’t have time to react before he turned to walk away. After trailing him, my friends and I realised he wasn’t trying to play a prank or anything – he put my plate back to the correct stall container. This incident left quite an impact on me because I regretted not acting fast enough to thank him (and partly because I had no idea why I was his only target).

Thursday was violin exam day. I took one day to get over it. I hope I manage a pass, at least. I was feeling quite disappointed because I made quite a few unforgivable mistakes in my playing. Argh. Ok I don’t want to think about it anymore. I’ll decide how to react when the result comes out.

Today, there was supposed to be cross country. Most of the school dutifully turned up at West Coast Park, but just around 7 plus, there were huge storm clouds looming towards us and the wind was blowing really hard. But since there was no rain yet, we weren’t dismissed. At about 8am, it started pouring like crazy. There were a few tents set up around the big lawn, but fitting over 3000 students in them was certainly no joke. There was no way we could stay dry, especially when the strong winds were blowing all the rain into the narrow tents. Soon, the field started flooding and our shoes started getting soaked. It was a really pathetic sight. For over an hour, the whole school was just crammed under tents – most trying to fight the rain with umbrellas, and others either chatting or playing with their phones.

After more than an hour, the school was officially dismissed, but we couldn’t really move anywhere since we were stranded at our “safe spots”. Most people crowded at Macs or went home.

Tian Kai, Sharon, Justin, Yi Kai and I were huddled under a tent which was quite empty since most people had left. Standing under a tent hardly made any difference at all since the wind was just blowing all the rain at us. We later decided to walk out to find shelter on solid ground to avoid soaking our feet in a nutritious mud bath. By then, we were drenched through and shivering (literally) each time a gust of wind came.

For the next hour, we sat in one of the small shelters along the park and tried to wait for the rain to stop. It was cold, wet and tiring. We had to sit close together to conserve warmth and there were 2 umbrellas on hand used to try to block out wind and rain. I can’t describe fully how cold we were. My body had periodic vibrations (like a hand phone?) and my teeth started chattering occasionally. After what seemed like a very long wait, we decided to walk through the lighter rain (it hardly mattered anymore since we were already soaked). Then we rested at Macs and had lunch there.

Looking back on how I spent my morning, I think it was a traumatising, yet memorable experience. It’s these challenges you go through with others that strengthen bonds and create long lasting memories.

The five of us stranded in the field with our shoes thoroughly soaked

After lunch, we went to watch Despicable Me. That kind of sums up my tiring day.

I went for the Speech day/Prize-giving ceremony on Friday at SMSS and collected the certificates for Music and O level results. I had a chance to wear the green graduation gown (and I must say it was really stuffy on such a warm day). I overheard someone who put it very aptly - “we look like Christmas trees!”. There were some thoughts running through my mind during the ceremony, but I can’t really recall them now. I think they were mainly memories of the 4 years spent there. 

Here’s my plot of land on Farrer Road:

It looks a little bit like a floating plaque.. in loving memory of me? And in case anyone was wondering, no, I didn’t pass away in 2009. 

I had my final violin exam rehearsal today. I really hope no volcano in any corner of the world decides to erupt within this week. I’m not really feeling stressed about the exam, probably because I suffered too much preparing for it 3 months ago and depleted my stress bank. According to my violin teacher, my pieces are very good, so if I’m not too nervous during the exam, I should do fine. Now I just hope the sight reading and viva-voce isn’t going to be too hard.

Yay!

Today was the release of Common Test results.

I did better than I could imagine, and I really have God to thank for that.

I posted this on 4 July after my tests were over:

My best subject will probably be Chinese, followed by Econs. I got killed for the rest, so I don't really want to speculate about the order of my marks for now.

Looking back, my prediction was quite true. I did exceptionally well for Chinese and Econs. I fact, their marks were exactly the same. My next best subjects were Physics and Math, which were also tied. The last 2 subjects, English and Chem, differed by one mark. My subject marks have been split into 3 neat levels.

The subject with the most improvement made was Physics. I scored a devastating 11/40 for my first and only class test last term. That left me quite unconfident of my Physics and I started doubting if I should even consider a Physics EE.

When I got back English, I was really happy because I managed to get out of the fail-zone, with a decent pass. So far I’ve only passed English 3 out of 6 times.

Mom [to Dad]: Woah Lynn topped her level for Econs leh!

Dad: Who's gene was it?

Mom: Hmm let me trace back…

Was Math invented or discovered?

I really don’t know.. I can’t even make a stand yet. Saying it’s both would be just trying to take the easy way out…

[This section was typed and deleted at least twice, because I didn’t know whether or not to post more]

I woke up at 2.30am this morning to catch the match between Spain and Germany. Dad suddenly walked into the living room after half time and asked me for the score before joining me for the rest of the match. Jean said she wanted to watch but she didn’t manage to wake up. Xiao Jun was watching too but she fell asleep halfway… I was already getting suspicious because she was suddenly stopped smsing. I was supporting Germany but when I found out the octopus had already predicted Germany would lose, I lost hope already. Yes, I trust seafood… But really, this guy is accurate. Read the article below:

Paul the psychic octopus correctly predicts Germany defeat

Paul, an octopus in a German zoo who predicts the national side's football results, maintained his 100 per cent accuracy rate at this World Cup by foreseeing the team's downfall at the hands of Spain.

By Nick Collins
Published: 7:30AM BST 08 Jul 2010

Paul, the so-called "octopus oracle", predicts Spain's victory in their 2010 World Cup semi-final match against Germany Photo: REUTERS

The animal has become the most unusual celebrity at this year's tournament after correctly indicating whether Germany would win or lose each of their six games during the tournament.

His keepers at the zoo in Oberhausen claim he is psychic, and help him make his predictions by offering him mussels from two containers - one adorned with the German flag and one with that of their opponents.

Whichever vessel Paul chooses to eat from is held to be his tip to win the match - and his choice of Spain for last night's semi-final added further weight to his burgeoning reputation.

His talent was first spotted during the Euro 2008 finals, when he successfully picked the winner for each of Germany's games until the final - also against Spain.

His keeper, Oliver Walenciak, said before the match: "We know that all octopus have nine brains so we know he has exceptional powers.

"In the European Cup he got one game wrong. It was the final between Germany and Spain and he picked Germany which was wrong and this time he has picked Spain so we are thinking he must be wrong again."

But hopes that Paul had a blind spot for matches against Spain were crushed as a Carlos Puyol header ended Germany's hopes of winning the tournament.

Paul's unwavering accuracy this year has even seen him become a target for furious Argentinian fans, who blamed him for their side's quarter final defeat against Germany and threatened to eat him.

Mr Walenciak said: "There are always people who want to eat our octopus but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well. He will survive."

I found the second last paragraph the funniest.

Today, I went to the gym after not having exercised since the last PE lesson (sometime around my NAPHA test in April/May). Mom practically dragged me along with her. About 20 minutes into cycling on the fake magnetic bike, I felt a bit of thalasaemia minor acting up, but I continued cycling with gradually decreasing velocity. It got more unbearable towards the end of my workout but I persevered and was relieved to get off the bike. But that’s when my trouble started.

Mom and I went out of the gym to go back home. I was in the lift when I started blacking out. The walk back to my block was the longest and most scary/dangerous journey I ever made from the club house. I had to keep my head low and when I stepped out of the club house, I could hardly see where I was going. My vision was just filled with pixel-like stuff that made it very hard for me to see, and everything I heard was muffled. I had to make at least 5 stops along the way to squat down and let blood flow to my brain. It got worse as my journey progressed. At one point, I could hardly make it out of one of the lift lobbies. I couldn’t see the door and everything was completely black. Mom was holding me and trying to support me as I fumbled my way around. I vaguely remember someone entered the lift lobby while I was in my semi-conscious state – she must have been freaked out. I could hardly move and mom was trying to get a response from me.

After the stopovers and drunken-like walking, I finally made it to the 13th floor. I barely stepped out of the lift when I blacked out again. I don’t remember how I managed to reach my door. Mom was trying to guide me to the doorstep and I felt worse than a blind person. My head was throbbing and my legs hardly wanted to move. So I sat in front of my door for about a minute before making my way in. The whole thing managed to clear by the time I was done with my shower.

This isn’t the first time it’s happened, but one of the more serious ones I’ve ever experienced. Just this morning when I woke up, I nearly blacked out in the toilet. I lost some consciousness while walking from my bed, and managed to grab hold of the sink and cling on while trying to regain consciousness. But this sort of experience is what I’d consider minor and somewhat more frequent. I usually end up forgetting how I managed to get to my destination.

Ok I know this is a bit lag, but, yayyyy! Exams are over!

My best subject will probably be Chinese, followed by Econs. I got killed for the rest, so I don't really want to speculate about the order of my marks for now.

I'll be living this week like it's the June (July) holidays. I'm trying to make up for lost time in the holidays when I had to slog hard at revision. But have a whole list of things I need to clear this week - things I couldn't focus on because of my packed holiday, but which have deadlines approaching soon.

I'm finally going to visit the IR tomorrow with my grandparents and cousins, oh and Jean. I really wonder what it looks like close up, because all I've seen so far is 3 giant oddly curved buildings which look nearly the same. For some strange reason, probably the lack of colour, my brain seems to keep associating the IR with LCD pixels.

I’m back from a week of relaxing and unwinding. My parents, grandparents and I spent Thursday-Friday at a beach resort in Port Dickson. While walking out of the lift, I suddenly caught sight of a nice sunset with the sun just at the edge of the world. It was picture perfect. But by the time I fumbled with my camera and took a picture, it was too late. The sun just sank down the horizon and all I was left with was traces of its orange trail. That sunset was memorable, especially since it was set against the sea, with nice swimming pools in the foreground and coconut tees swaying along the beach in the middle-ground. It’s weird how that sunset seemed special, even though sunsets have always been available on a daily basis. Though I don’t have a picture of it in my camera, there’s one I can refer to in my head. Now that’s the ultimate camera.

The retreat was good, overall. From the sermons to the food and my living quarters. My room was super big (about 4 times the size of my room), and so was my bed. It must have been a super-single sized one. Through I was mainly reminded not to focus so much on the quantitative aspects of church growth, but rather, qualitative aspects. I had my difficult times of questioning why my church was the way it is, but it’s over already, so this mainly served as a reminder. There were many other things learnt, but one of the important ones was to try being more caring towards newcomers – something the unsociable me isn’t good at.

During the retreat, I tried worship leading for one of the worship sessions. Well, it was a good experience. Weirdly, I wasn’t feeling nervous at all, even though it was my first time. Oh yes, and there’s a revival of the 2007 favourite song. It was sung at least twice a day for the entire retreat. Somehow, everyone kept picking it. So now, 我的神，我的父，我的磐石 is top of the charts – again. And now that everyone’s bored of it, its popularity will sink back down and the cycle would most probably continue… Ok I think I shouldn’t analyse worship leaders’ song choices so much..

Will be off to Malaysia for church retreat in a few hours till Friday. I’m kind of excited. I’ll be rooming with xj.. haha.. just as we wanted it. But I think I’ll have to spend time revising while over there since exams are going to crash on me when I come back.

The camp theme song...

I managed to catch Toy Story 3 yesterday while my class crashed the sec 4s’ Sunday School class outing (this usually happens…). Then we went to partyworld KTV. I’m not so much of a karaoke fan, but after going for karaoke twice in the past 2 weeks, with nearly the same people, I’ve gotten more and more ok with it. There are 2 major problems I face – 1. I don’t know many pop songs; 2. It takes me more time to read the Chinese lyrics so by the time I finish reading, I usually miss the whole line already. But I can safely say I’ve improved a bit… I think.

I was thinking, if karaoke included Christian songs, it’d probably be much easier for people like me who have limited exposure to the secular world of pop music. While scrolling through the long list of songs, I caught sight of Amazing Grace in various versions. But then a counter-thought quickly came to my mind. How can people just sing “sacred” songs just for the sake of pleasure and the fun of hearing their voice on a booming surround-sound system? That leads me to a further point – when we worship, is it usually how nice the music sounds that comes first? I remember while studying for O level music, I came across an interesting fact - that the prosperity of towns usually depended on the quality of their church music. Weird as it may seem, it might be similar for most churches today. I’m pretty sure if some churches did without their rock band for a while, the number of attendees would probably fall. If I scale it down to let’s say, no piano in my church (it has happened in dire situations before), the same phenomenon would probably occur. But this is also why I salute the English assembly for being able to preserve the long tradition of not using any instruments at all for every main service.

So what’s my main point? Music was created to enhance worship, not the other way round. I admit that sometimes, I do fall into that trap. But I hope I’ll grow out of it completely.

This morning, I went to AMK library and managed to catch a ride from yeye since he was dropping food off at my house and sending Jensen to bowling practice. It was raining very heavily. When I stepped out of the car just at the side of the road, in the midst of hurrying and trying not to get wet, I sank my foot into the side of the road, near the curb. Then, I felt a cool and gradually wet sensation. I quickly jumped up the curb, as fat as I could react, and there was the spongy effect in my shoes. When I assessed the damage in the shelter, I concluded that I must have stepped into an ankle-deep puddle river. Sigh.. So I had to bear with a squishy shoe the whole morning. But when I reached home and read the news today, I think what I stepped into was merely the tip of the iceberg, or rather, the surface of the flood. Poor people in Orchard Road… Oh and the news reporter was rather funny. The shop owners in Luck Plaza weren’t quite lucky – their shops were flooded.

I watched Karate Kid today. It was quite good, but very long.

How many times have we forgotten to pray?

Violin exam is going to be on 29 July, hopefully. Please, no volcano ash. I don't think I can live through another great disappoint like that. Mom said I play better (during practice) when I know the exam date. That pretty much explains why the after-shock got me aimless.

Yesterday’s TF Anniversary went well, better than I could imagine. It was my first time planning the anniversary as the tuan zhang, The 7 weeks of publicising, planning, working well past midnight seem to have paid off. From the feedback I heard, those who came thought it was meaningful and well-planned. Except for 2 Chinese words that I used wrongly, my Chinese standard was probably unbelievable for some. It took me at least 3 hours to type out my whole script.

The success of the anniversary isn’t mine or the committee to gloat over. Rather, I think God blessed the whole event and so I was nothing but (to put it a little crudely) a pawn. But that is honourable enough for me.

My throat feels weird… I predict I’ll be sick by Wednesday, latest.